The warm smell of fresh donuts rose through the air of the ActivEngage office breakroom.  A ping-pong table lined the far wall of the room, and a sign requiring employees to moonwalk out of the office hung over the exit. Soft beanbag chairs and oblong ottomans furnished in green and orange – a colorful contrast from the bleak, gloom of the Florida rain. I knew immediately this room was like no other I’d ever been in. High above the desks of nearly a hundred young professionals was a single statement, inscribed upon the wall in bold type: “Every chat. Every word. Every time.” ActivEngage is the most trusted live automotive chat provider, a service company on the bleeding edge of the Internet age. Teams of Virtual Sales Assistants (VSAs) monitor auto dealership websites to personally meet, greet, and assist online shoppers. But despite the constant clatter of typing and the huge array of computer screens, this was far from t...

  General Motors can’t seem to get the Chevy Volt off of dealership lots – the American automaker has recently suspended production of its plug-in electric for five weeks while it tries to unload its excess inventory of “advanced vehicles” onto consumers. In an effort to stimulate the sales of fuel-efficient cars like the Volt, President Obama has suggested that drivers receive a $10,000 tax credit for the purchase of hybrids and electric vehicles. This proposal comes as demand steadily grows for for long-haul trucks, which account for 20% of the nation’s fuel consumption. The vitriol and malice found in the comments section of nearly any article on the subject might lead you to believe that the elimination of oil dependence is somehow a political issue. But put aside ideology for just a second, and let’s think this through. Cutting gasoline usage means lowering petroleum demand, which means lower pr...

Write your post hereWe are closing in on the 12th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, April 3-5, at The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando.  Will you be there? The last conference in Las Vegas drew more than a thousand dealers and managers from almost every state and featured 94 workshops and more than 95 exhibitors.  With so much to see and do, we’ve narrowed down the must-see events at this year’s conference: Who to See - The Must See Speakers: Todd Smith doesn’t just have 20+ years of dealership experience – he’s also a veteran of the auto dealer speaking circuit and a self-proclaimed industry rock star. Todd will conclude his whirlwind tour with a keynote address at Digital Dealer 2012. For those of you who don’t know, Todd is the CEO of ActivEngage - a company that leads the industry in converting online visitors into real customers. At his DD12 presentation, Todd will share valuable insight ...

  It is a well-known fact that abbreviations and emoticons are often used in every day conversations. From texting to emailing, this lingo has become popular across all generations and forms of media – dating all the way back to 1862. So, when is it appropriate to use emoticons in an automotive live chat conversation? There is one golden rule that you must always keep in mind: do not use emoticons or abbreviations unless the chatter uses them first. However, this rule can be applied loosely depending on the vibe each live chat participant gives off during the conversation. If you are having a great conversation and acquire all the contact information effortlessly, an emoticon or abbreviation here and there could help, not hinder, your chat. This fresh way of communicating can give off positive feelings in the chat conversation and can be a great way to build a relationship with the web shopper. Scenarios when to use Emoticons after the chatter use...

  Download your free guide today! In the ActivEngage blog, and in much of our other content, we describe the power of automotive live chat has to transform your dealership website into a lead-generating machine.  It is common knowledge that automotive chat opens a communication channel between automotive shoppers and your dealership that enables you to capture website visitor lead information and move prospective customers forward in your sales process.  Yet, the full potential of dealer chat has yet to be realized by a majority of auto dealers. With more than 80% of today’s automotive consumers conducting part of their vehicle shopping process online, your website’s ability to engage automotive shoppers and convert them to leads is critical to the success of your dealership. To help auto dealers realize that optimizing the conversion rate of their website can easily be accomplished by deploying an automotive cha...

  Auto dealers eager to boost website conversion and Internet leads are increasingly using dealer chat solutions to engage visitors on dealership websites.  Automotive chat is an effective and proven method for growing the volume of a dealership’s online leads but thesuccess of chat largely depends on specific qualities of the automotive chat vendor and the dealership’s Internet department. There are a variety of automotive chatsolutions available to dealerships today, but the most important chat decision with which auto dealers are faced is whether to manage chat in-house at the dealership or outsource it to a full-service vendor.  In this blog, we identify the most important things auto dealers need in order to successfully answer chats and manage their own dealer chat solution. Mindset First and foremost, auto dealers must put on their customer service hats.  Automotive chat is a communication channel us...

  Download Your FREE Copy Today! ActivEngage has found the number one cause of automotive live chat failure is the misconception that simply adding a chat application to a dealership website will produce results.  Last week we released a new ebook to help auto dealers learn how to use automotive live chat correctly and generate more high quality leads than ever before. The ebook, which outlines the evolution of chat technology as a communication channel and sales engagement tool, presents the seven most common reasons live chat fails for auto dealers.  Additionally, the ebook highlights how smart auto dealers avoid the common pitfalls and use automotive live chat to take their websites to the next level of lead generation. Seven Reasons Live Chat Fails arms dealers with the knowledge to plan, implement and manage a chat strategy that effectively doubles the volume of leads generated from their dealership websites. In this powe...

  Auto dealers know the follow-up process is one of the most critical elements of lead conversion.  This is especially true for leads generated through automotive live chat.  To be successful in this business and build trust with consumers, dealers must follow-up with leads quickly and be precise and specific in their communication.  For leads generated from automotive live chat, the chat transcript holds vital information about the prospect’s desires and how far along he or she is in the conversion funnel. But, how can auto dealers be specific, personal and build trust in a timely manner? Understandably, auto dealers hate to email out a price without first talking to someone.  Dealers should simply focus on continuing to build the relationship with the prospective customer that was initiated by the live chat conversation while providing information that move the customer forward in the sales process. In this blog, we analyze...

    The New York Giants denied the New England Patriots a Super Bowl ring again. With this familiar, trivial news out of the way, let’s talk about the important stuff – the commercials. At around $3.5 million per advertisement, companies spent mountains of cash for 30 seconds of Super Bowl airtime. As expected, auto manufacturers engaged in an all-out branding war, creating almost a dozen car commercials this year.  A few were true marketing gems but all were entertaining. In this blog, we’re giving these companies the attention they paid for by identifying what was great about many of this year’s Super Bowl car commercials!  Additionally, we discuss marketing lessons that auto dealers can learn from them: The Gems Chrysler – Halftime in America Just before Madonna’s glamorously stilted halftime show, Chrysler unleashed its own multimillion-dollar baby – Clint Eastwood stars in...

  What if you could spot engaged and ready-to-buy shoppers as they browse your dealership website in real-time?  How would that transform your Internet Business? More and more auto dealers are finding automotive live chat to be one of the most valuable assets to their dealership’s Internet business.  Dealers using full service, managed chat solutions tend to experience the largest boost in leads generated from their websites. On the other hand, many dealers believe that their BDC and Sales staff are the most qualified individuals to handle their dealership chat. Both categories of automotive live chat solutions deliver an increase in website lead generation, yet this increase is primarily achieved as a result of intuitive behavioral targeting by solutions utilizing real-time business intelligence reporting.  In simplified terms, some chat solutions come with supercharged website analytics to deliver you the most high quality le...

  The benefits of automotive live chat for your dealership website’s sales process are pretty clear.  But, have you thought about what automotive live chat can do for your dealership service department? As you know, your dealership service department is essential to the success of your dealership.  Service centers and/or body shops bring in vital revenue for dealers, often accounting for a majority of a dealership’s profit.  Yet, it is very possible that your service department’s resources are already stretched to the limit, inhibiting the amount of service leads and appointments your dealership is able to generate. So, how do you improve your ability to capture service leads and set more service appointments?  If you incorporate live, automotive chat into your digital marketing mix, the answer is as simple as adding proactive invites to chat on your service department page.  If chat is somethi...

  Let’s say that you’re an auto dealer with a successful social media aspect of your digital marketing campaign – you have tons of Facebook fans, a healthy community that provides feedback and applause, and an online presence that grows every day. But the point of any marketing endeavor is to eventually convert your fans into loyal customers, and you determine that your Facebook page just isn’t bringing in sales –  despite all the positive metrics that indicate otherwise. What went wrong? Location has a significant impact on automotive dealerships because of the very nature of the business. It is not economically viable to ship a 4,000-pound vehicle across the country, so you depend on sales within your jurisdiction. Therefore, you reach out to local media. When you purchased that billboard space on the interstate, you did it because you knew that drivers in the area would view it. When you filmed tha...

    Wikipedia, the sixth most popular site on the entire Internet, went dark yesterday in protest of a proposed Congressional bill – effectively halting any college papers from being written whatsoever. Alongside thousands of sites such as Craigslist, Tumblr, and Reddit, the global encyclopedia asks visitors to take action against the Stop Online Piracy Act, a piece of legislation that threatens to give the U.S. government the ability to block access to infringing domain names. This means that corporations can sue websites for user-posted content, potentially crippling start-ups and a variety of social media outlets. But the auto industry is far removed from the entertainment world that the bill targets – why should auto dealers care about SOPA? It’s easy to understand why movie producers and record labels would want to put a stop to theft of their intellectual property. However, under the guidelines of this new bill, an...

  To sell cars to Generation Y, dealerships must understand the mind of a Millennial.  As a member of Generation Y, I’ll share with you my intimate knowledge on how you can best connect with younger customers. These individuals, commonly known asGeneration Y or the Millennials, are still burdened with leaving their homes once in a while – to pick up more microwavable dinners, visit the local RedBox, or make the occasional human connection – but when it comes to car shopping, the majority of those born between 1979 and 1997 are increasingly likely to hunt for their next vehicle from the comfort of their computer.   A Study by Deloitte predicts that Gen Y will account for 40% of all automotive shoppers in 2012!  As online shopping becomes more standard and less novel, how can your website stand out to a generation that will soon encompass more than a third of yo...

  Inbound Marketing is the most effective technique to sell vehicles on the Internet and automotive dealerships are beginning to realize it.  As 2011 winds down, data is indicating that traditional, disruptive marketing techniques are failing to deliver results. Many dealers are now wondering, “other than live chat, which marketing techniques and strategies of the new year will be the most important for my dealership?” For CEO of ActivEngage Todd Smith, the future of dealership digital marketing is clear.  Todd’s 20+ years in retail automotive sales along with his visionary leadership of the most trusted brand in automotive live chat have led him to be one of the industry’s most respected thought-leaders on digital marketing for dealers. Whether you’ve seen him speak on the GM eSummit tour, at an automotive trade show, or even in an ...

  What’s the first step an automotive consumer takes most often toward making a vehicle purchase?  If you answered conduct a Google search, you are correct!  For automotive consumers, this search is conducted to determine which car and dealership is right for them. Dealers, do you know what your prospective customers are searching?  Will your dealership website or online content be found? Research by HubSpot, an inbound marketingthought leader, primarily shows that websites that create lots of content, build activesocial media profiles, and blog regularly are much more successful online than their peers.  In short, if you create the content your customers are searching, you will drive more of them to your dealership website and boost your online lead generation. The following is a brief, step by step guide to the creation of content that will transform your dealership website into a lead...

  If you’re not using live chat, you’re losing thousands of dollars every day and you probably don’t even realize it. One thing I’m sure you do realize is that today’s automotive shoppers do extensive research online prior to ever stepping foot in a showroom.  As Ralph Paglia says, “There is no such thing as an ‘internet customer’ anymore.  There are only customers!” Another thing you’re most likely realizing is that your leads of greatest quality come from your website.  The leads that convert from your website are made up of interested, engaged, ready-to-buy shoppers that found they information for which they were searching. What about the shoppers that visit your website and aren’t converting?  Can you afford to ignore them? Automotive live chat is a unique tool for instant communication between shoppers and dealers. ...

  Are leads from live chat really leads? If you are the general manager of a dealership that has never used automotive live chat service or software, you’re probably wondering the same thing. The answer is clear though…for real! The highest quality foot traffic that comes into your showroom or onto your lot is brought in by leads generated from your dealership websites.   Automotive live chat on your dealership website increases the amount of these leads. Here are 4 reasons why leads from automotive live chat are of the highest quality.   1.      Live chat leads are informed, engaged and ready-to-buy Nine times out of ten, your website visitors are conducting research on their next automotive purchase.  Live chat serves as a quick and anonymous channel of communication between dealers and shoppers.  By using automotive live chat, you can answers visi...

    Hey dealers, is your website equipped to out-perform competition this holiday season?  Your 2011 holiday planning should already be well underway but there a few last-minute tips to get you in the spirit of closing sales from web leads. Cyber Monday is a marketing term created by companies to persuade people to shop online on the Monday immediately following Black Friday.   Between now and November 28 (and all the way to December 31), a record number of consumers researching their next vehicle purchase will be visiting your dealership website. Forrester Research predicted in its U.S. Online Retail Forecast, 2009 to 2014 report that the web would influence 48% of 2011 in-store sales, predictions which are set to come true.  The average holiday shopper plans to do 36% of their shopping online – whether they’re comparing prices, researching products, or making a purchase (or an ...

    Tired of trial and error live chat strategies? ActivEngage has gathered and analyzed data over the past several months on the performance of their products.  The findings illustrate how live chat works for dealers in various situations and how to optimize live chat for maximum engagement and lead conversion. The findings are currently being compiled and explained in a soon-to-be released ebook titled Automotive Live Chat Insights.  This free ebook will be available to all dealers so that dealerships using live chat can employ a proven and trusted live chat strategy. The following live chat deployment best practices were developed based on the analysis of more than one million live chat conversations. 1) Avoid chat button styles and designs thatblend in with the content and background of the webpage. Chat buttons should be eye-catching and ‘pop’ from the page so consumers take note of their...

This week I was thinking about what I would do if times were tough and I was still on the retail side of the business? What changes would I make in my Internet sales department? So, I decided to put together a list of seven easy to do things at your dealership that will absolutely have an impact on your Internet sales and productivity. This list is compiled to get you thinking about things you can do right now without adding to your budget. Redesign your autoresponder for shoppers- I have always found that autoresponders are a terrific place to make a great first impression and set the tone of how the Internet sales process will unfold at your dealership. Most autoresponders I see only state that the lead has been received and someone will get back to them ASAP. But, this is such a great place to do so much more. While I know that Internet shoppers may not read all the emails you send them, this one will not only set the tone but could establish if the shopper will even open up ...

Well, here is part deux as promised. Social Media is moving so fast through our industry that dealerships seem to be trying anything and everything to make sense of it. There are more opinions than facts and even more dark corners that have yet to be explored. As stated in my previous blog post anything that drives someone away from the sales process is potentially dangerous. This includes linking shoppers to social media sites through embedded icons from the homepage. I fully understand the potential brand alignments referred to in some of the comments and I agree that these sites can lend credibility to the dealership. But at what cost?

Now for the drum roll please…

How do we integrate Social Media into our dealership business without disrupting anything? After six months of working on this and countless conversations with industry peers and experts, I am please to show you just (Click Here). This is still in Beta and has not been released to the public yet, but I thought I...

After spending all of February visiting and analyzing dealership websites, one thing stuck with me that has raised a large concern. In my understanding of being successful online driving traffic to the website is just the first step. The next and probably the most important step is making sure people drive deep into the website and ultimately convert to either a web form, chat conversation or a phone call. But, I have found an alarming number of dealerships placing their social media links like FaceBook, Twitter, Youtube, dealership blog, Digg and a host of additional social media connection points on their homepage, which is linking shoppers away from their websites. I know some people will say that all this is doing is launching another browser, which preserves the dealership website beneath but is it really? Let’s be honest and call a spade a spade. It drives people away from the website. If the dealership is lucky this will only be temporarily but it may be permanently.

Is thi...

Every day I talk with dealership about Internet marketing. One thing that always stands out to me is the email correspondence that dealerships send to shoppers, from the initial autoresponder to the letter 60 days later, if they even send that many. This could be a great place to stand out to make your business case but, unfortunately, most dealership’s marketing emails all read and look the same.
When shoppers visit five websites looking for the best deal and submit email forms nothing is worse than looking just like your competitor. It screams to the shopper a duck is a duck is a duck. The only problem is you don’t want to be a duck. You want your marketing to stand out and give a different vibe. You need to show the shopper you are different.



Throw out the typical autoresponder. Send a video email introduction instead.
Don’t talk about how great your dealership is; follow up on what the shopper wants instead—make sure you address their request.
Don’t send a ...

Meet & Greet- You have four seconds to make a great first impression with you shopper. Yep that is it! Research shows that a person makes up their mind about another individual within 4 seconds of meeting them. Make your approach and greeting powerful.

Your Elevator Pitch- Within 30 seconds you need to be able to explain why the shopper should do business with you and your dealership. It has to be powerful and poignant. Show the shopper the benefits that you can bring to the shopper. This pitch needs to be centered around helping the shopper fulfill their needs.

RTDB- Ready To Do Business is essential to closing deals. Being prepared is so important yet half the time we are scrambling around without a pen, nothing to write on, no inventory sheets etc. Get into the game be prepared and get ready your next sale is right around the corner.

Product Demonstrations- Deliver a walk around that is unforgettable and make the actual test drive just a bonus. Take the time and presen...

As a recap from last week, we established the importance of starting to build Social CRM for your dealership. I feel there was some great conversation on how to get started; thanks for all the great comments! Today we are going to dive in to the steps necessary to get it off the ground. This is such an exciting time for the automotive industry and the potential for leveraging this new Social CRM can pay huge dividend for your dealership-- if you take the necessary steps to succeed.

Before I dive into the details, I want to share an analogy to help understand the connection between sales and social media.  When I was just getting started in the biz over 18 years ago, I remember a salesperson named Warren who continued to outsell everyone each month (35-45 units), yet he rarely took floor ups. His secret was his old rolodex that he constantly referenced as a gold mine for potential vehicles sales. Some where pre-existing customers, others were people he had met through everyday li...

Most dealerships use a CRM application in one form or another (some better than others).   Everyone is trying to track their prospects and customers a little more closely because honestly, there are currently fewer of them.  I think most dealerships are now looking into their DMS to mine previous shoppers in hopes of future business.  This is a good thing, and I can say without a doubt that the last 14 months have been the most gut wrenching I have experienced in the last 18 years in the automotive industry.  But I know that the dealerships that are left standing will be stronger, smarter and more equipped to deal with a marketplace that hasn't yet been fully defined.
Today, I want to focus on an emerging marketplace that I believe dealerships can leverage to gain a stronger local consumer influence, and secure their future in the automotive franchise business. The marketplace that I am referring to is Social Media. This dynamic and fluid channel is whe...

Well, they are not really diabolical but I needed to grab your attention somehow. Today I want to share with you some of the most important tips that we teach our professional chat reps at ActivEngage.  We have found these 5 tips very effective to manage online conversations and move website visitors through a shopping process.
1.  Offer the right message at just the right time- This means understanding your shoppers and then offering them relevant conversation based on: where they came from, what keywords they used and what pages they have visited on your website. If they have visited your site more than once, then you should also look at previous click paths and any previous chats.  By understanding your shoppers' mindsets, it is much easier to deliver information that they will find useful. 
2.  Get control of the conversation fast- Similar to handling a phone up, it is critical that you take control of the chat by asking questions. The key to online chat...

Most of you know that I have been involved with social media from pretty much the start; I always make sure to stay ahead of innovation for both personal and professional benefits.  I have also helped many dealerships and OEMs leverage new media and technology to stay ahead as well.  I recently decided to leverage this knowledge for a personal issue that I have been dealing with for almost a year now with the city of Orlando.  Don't you just love dealing with big, political bureaucracies?      
I decided to take our issues to the Internet and see if we could get some response. Being in the technology industry, I felt this would be the perfect social media experiment. Could the Internet really help to call attention to public policy that needs reform? The Internet & Twitter were driving forces in President Obama’s campaign, could it work to help us keep our deck? It's worth a shot.  
The situation is simple: we have a deck th...

I have recently fielded questions about the best methods to handle pre-owned inbound phone leads and have proven ideas and a script outline below.  A well thought out and rehearsed script can help even the best sales person get more contact information and schedule more appointments.  Any personnel fielding phone calls should have the script down pat.  The key is having a proven process to ensure consistent results from inbound calls.  And the script has got to sound real and engaging; nothing turns people off faster than someone reading to them over the phone.  Anyone taking calls should be required to have the script memorized.  Test them to ensure this!         
The goals for all calls should be 1.) qualify the shopper, 2.) get contact information and 3.) set an appointment.  I can tell you from years of experience, most calls are not this structured and frequently end without capturing any of this informati...